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Friday, July 1, 2011

A Match Made in Heaven? Trash Pick to Treasure

Yep! I'm up to it again! Trash picking!! My neighbor was throwing out an old french window frame a few weeks back and I snagged it up. It is about 2 by 4 feet and is missing the glass. His son actually saw me taking it from the bulk trash pile and asked me why I wanted it. I laughed at the sight of his puzzled face and said, "I am a studio artist who likes to re-purpose trash." His face didn't change. There just isn't any explaining this. After all, they saw the frame as trash. I chuckled, got back in the car and drove the three houses down to my house.

The frame had a funky faux blue and white paint on it that I knew had to go. I really didn't know what I was going to do with it. I was pretty sure it would play a supporting role in a table scape, sitting behind a few little whatnots. Without a makeover, it wasn't coming into the house! I saw it as an experiment at this point. I started by painting it with ASCP in Emperor's Silk red. I wanted to test out the chalk paint in this red color.
As it turned out, I wasn't getting very good coverage with this paint....but I pressed on.

The previous paint kept bleeding back through. Guess I should have used primer? Didn't think I had to with chalk paint. Oh well......put yet another coat on.....

I put on a super thick layer and left it for over a week to cure and came back and put yet another coat on the frame.

At this point, I threw in the towel and just tried to go with the mottled finish that this paint gave me. I let it dry and placed it up in behind my little metal tug boat that I picked up on my recent trip to the Florida Keys. It looked better than I could capture on a quick snap shot. The walls are a bright lime green just to give you an idea how 'off' these images are....

Sitting up there.....just didn't do anything for me. I tried it set in all different ways. I just still didn't like it. While looking at this pic on the little screen of my camera, I had a thought... See that little painting to the right side of the image? Right there....on the right? With the color blocks and rectangles?

I painted this little piece a few years back when I was having painters block and just decided to paint 'whatever.' I do that from time to time when I am blocked.....I paint something.....no rhyme or reason. Somehow, just after we painted this room, I hung it here "just to put something there" using a thumb tack, not even a nail to hold it in place. I knew it wasn't staying. One because I wasn't necessarily proud of it and because it was too small for the space.

So while looking at the previous image I think to myself, "What if I layered the red frame behind this little painting?? Wonder what it would look like?" I thought that the straight horizontal and vertical lines of the frame might pair well with the structure within the painting. So I got the frame back out and went to work. This is what it looks like now....

Pretty cool..... I like the added presence that the red frame lends to this painting. It is almost like they were destined to be together. Just like people.... Sometimes you just never know where some one's best pairing will come from. I thought to myself, "Oh. How cool is that?! This sad little unloved painting and the sad little unloved french window pane have been rescued and have found each other!" Yes....I know....I'm crazy. But it is the way I think. No sense hiding it.

I got a little touch up to do on the frame and I want to disguise the nails I used to hang it. But, I kinda like it. What do you think? As always.....a work in process.....

very artistic of you! Love your creativeness. I like to re-purpose stuff also I am surprised i have not gotten into a crash from being distracted while driving by junk piles on trash day...HeehEEHeeeKAT

I LOVE this look - combining the painting with the window frame is pure genius! Brilliance at its best! And I'm so with you - looking for ways to repurpose old things as artful treasures - seriously, why not? Looks totally fabulously colorfully wonderful in your pretty home. Happy weekend!